Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert

7 reviews

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Medical trauma, Classism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

witcheep's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Read this book if you seek sexual tension building while a troubled past is being used as an edgy backdrop for smut scenes. If you want to read about a balanced relationship forming, pick up some other book (I suggest Hibbert's The Brown Sisters series, I'm far more impressed with those books than this one).

It bothers me that the Merry Inkmas's main characters Cash and Bailey are represented as nearly perfectly goodhearted people that want to save each others from the ghosts of their dark and traumatic pasts: Both their parents have been in different kinds of abusive relationships. This has lead to the main characters to close up in order to shield themselves from similar harm, but they seem to easily warm up to each other because of their sexual chemistry.

However, Cash and Bailey's relationship has big imbalances of power all the time: they are a customer and a server, or a boss and and employee. There is also economical inequality in their relationship. These things are not addressed enough in my opinion, even though they clearly affect the characters' choises in the present and bring up similar situations from their past where things went very badly. This is a novella so I understand there isn't room for very in depth bonding on mental level if you want to write about the sexual tension building up and releasing in multiple smut scenes, as happens in this book. Maybe I picked up a wrong book for me, but I would have preferred to see more chemistry in the interpersonal relationship besides the bedroom.

I hoped these issues would be at least mentioned in the ending, but they are completely brushed under the rug. In the epiloque

Cash and Bailey are thrust into a happy ever after of one big family with seemingly no trauma or baggage remaining.

The premises of this book had potential to discuss the heavy topics and show how to deal with them, but the novella falls short in this regard, unlike the other books by Hibbert I've read. Hibbert's later books address representation and struggles in a more wholesome and considerate way. Perhaps Merry Inkmas could have accomplished that as well, if it had been a fully fleshed out novel instead of a shorter novella.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pregnancy

readbykatherine's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

mayareadsxo's review

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Domestic abuse

notsobinaryart's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Pedophilia

itschelseaw's review

emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A cute, quick read. I just really like Talia Hibbert’s style of writing, so most of her books will be a win for me. Even though this was more of a novella than full on novel (the version I read was 132 pages long) we still got to know the characters well and saw the development of them. The big conversations were satisfying, as was the smut and seeing them fall in love.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

aqtbenz's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death of parent